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Monday, December 30, 2013

Maisie Danger Brown just
wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never
intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a
frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A
plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There's no
going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and
annihilation.

From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes
a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And
how far would you go to save everyone else?(goodreads.com)

I was approved to read this book through Netgalley and it's my first Shannon Hale book (I know, I'm kind of ashamed of me) and I wasn't disappointed. Right off the bat, two of my favorite aspects of this story were that Maisie is not only Hispanic, but she's missing an arm. There are a ton of posts about how there aren't enough minority protagonists, and how their aren't enough protagonist with disabilities, this book has both!

This is the second alien book I've read this year (the first was The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey), normally I avoid them like the plague because they never do it for me, I find it hard to suspend my disbelief most of the time, I had no problems with this book. I love that all of this began with Space Camp, although I will admit what I would have liked a bit more detail about the challenges there. Although Maisie isn't the type of character to let her disability slow her down, I feel like there had to have been difficulties completing the space camp challenges, but they were sort of glossed over.

The story with the aliens and the tokens were so cool, it reminded me of Captain Planet or something like that. I'll have to say that I'm on the fence about

Friday, December 27, 2013

It is hosted by TWO hosts,Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.
Question of the week: Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! What books did Santa stuff your
stocking with this holiday season? Do a holiday book haul for us! If you
don’t celebrate just show off your books that you got this week.
Pictures!!!

Not long ago a publisher friend of mine told me about a new genre called New Adult. The genre was full of books that were mostly self published and were geared toward people from about 18 to 29 (I'm not sure if those are the exact ages but you see where I'm going with this). The New Adult genre was suppose to incorporate things like college life, finding a job that would actually allow you to support yourself, standing on your own two feet and stepping into the world, and yes adult romance.

I read this article on Horn Book that compared YA and NA books. I'll let you read the article yourself but I have to say that as a 26 year old living in the "real world" there should be books geared toward my age group. At the age of 26 (there are exceptions) college life is behind you, high school is a fading memory, and life, bills, relationships, and friends, have bombarded your life and it may be hard to deal with. It's one thing to go to college and live on your own and make your own rules and experience life for what feels like the first time. However, where you're living in an apartment, that you can hardly afford and trying to figure out what bills you'll be able to pay that month, your singing a very different tune.

Teens are almost always forgotten in the library world, they are so easy to over looks because it is hard for us to understand them and remember what it was like at their age. I think the same can be said for this NA age group. I'm not married, I have never been married, I don't have kids, I don't have a house, I'm in the beginning of my career, and finances are frustrating. I want to read about characters like me. I don't want to read about a 30 something mother of two, recently divorced and experiencing a midlife crisis, because I haven't reached that point in my life yet (okay I'll read about that, but I can't relate). There is a very real difference between the life of a 17 year old high school student, the life of a 21 year old college student, the life of a 26 year old young professional,and the life of a 32 year old parent. I think literature should try to reach out and connect with all age groups.

The best quote that I can pull from the article is this one “the heart of YA is the coming-of-age story about a teen’s first step
towards deciding who they are and what they want to become. The
coming-of-age story in New Adult is about actually becoming that person.
Or not, as the case may be.” In my opinion it says it all.

There are articles out there that don't like the term New Adult and what it may or may not signify. I must say I agree that sometimes labeling books can cause more harm than good, but in a world (library world) were books have to fall into some sort of category just so we'll know what shelf to put them on, I think it's unavoidable. Is it right to try to force everything into a label, no, is it necessary for my job, yes. I just really, truly, wholeheartedly think that it's time we think about those of us in our mid 20s. It seems that many of the books that fall under the NA category are romance but there's nothing wrong with that (and I'm not even a huge romance fan, I'm partial to action myself, with some romance thrown in), romance and relationships play a vital part in our lives. The end. Case and point. I don't understand why it's so looked down upon.

As for the fact that NA reads like YA except with bolder sex scene's I have this to say, sexual exploration is a fact of life, and it actually may be considered an important fact of life, in this country sex it still a very taboo subject that makes a lot of people uncomfortable, and I think that's a problem. Romantic relationships are a very important aspect of NA life, it's during that time that we are not only finding our way career wise, but it may be during your mid 20's that you find the person that you walk down the isle toward. Call it silly or dramatic if you want to but that's how I feel and I can't change it.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Happy Holiday's to everyone again. I hope you all had a great Christmas. So while I was sitting around visiting my parents and waiting for them to finish cooking (I'm not exactly useful in the kitchen) I finished Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. Here we go.

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The
last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked
her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long
as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too
busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl.
Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds
don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The
Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they
threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors
are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind.
Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous
body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. (goodreads.com)

I feel like I own Tahereh Mafi an apology because I don't know what I was doing that kept me from reading (AKA audiobooking) this book. It was fantastic from start to finish. I love the the crossing out of lines, I love listening (because I did audiobook it) listening to Juliette's inner monologue, and I love her character development. Juliette goes from a mousy prisoner with very little left to live for, to a woman who has gained the self confidence and self worth to do what she has to to survive, and accept herself.Two thumbs up Tahereh. I love that the supporting characters are more than just background, I love that although the romance in this book is awesome, there's more to their relationship and the book than "boy meets girl". I love everything!!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. As I sit in for my three hours shift knowing I wont see any patrons today (the floor I work on doesn't open until 1pm on Tuesdays, but the library closes at 12 today... yup) I'm thinking of all the books on my Goodreads list that I'm looking forward to buy with the Barnes and Noble card I'm sure to get from my parents tomorrow. They look a little something like this.

And many many more. This past year, according to Goodreads, I read 78 books. For 2014 I'm shooting for 85. Hopefully the above books will kick of the new year. Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Monday, December 23, 2013

So through some fancy clicking I found this thing called Feature and Follow it was created by Alisoncanread and Parajunkee. It's a really cool way for bloggers to find and follow each other, it's a win win for all involved. I'm still a beginning blogger, but I'm working on it. So hopefully I do this right.

Question: Pick a book from your favorite genre that you'd recommend to a reluctant reader.

I would recommend The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

I love this book, in fact I love all of her books, her adult series included!!

I hope I did all of this right. I'm off to follow people, hopefully people follow me as well!

Emma
would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about
her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with
the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But
Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead
and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting
bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New
Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about
school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is
startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own
heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her
existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love? (goodreads.com)

I got this book from Netgalley and I've never read a story with a plot line like this. Emma's mother died while pregnant with her half brother. Emma's step-father Dan decided to keeps Emma's mom's body breathing while his son grew to term. Emma is furious, she's convinced that not only didn't her mom want the baby in the first place (she did it for Dan), but she was terrified of being pregnant, she was terrified of what the baby was doing to her body. Emma does everything possible to make Dan's life miserable. Where once there was a great relationship between step-father and step-daughter, there was nothing left but contempt. Emma has begun to fail her classes, and although she has managed to keep a relationship with her best friend, Emma knows that she will never been as she was before. There is so much emotion in this book it's almost too much to handle. My heart goes out to Emma, she has to go to a hospital and talk to her mother who she knows will be allowed to die after giving birth to her brother, I can't imagine how much harder it's going to be when she has to bury her mother. I also understand Dan's need to save his son. Luckily Emma connects with the resident bad boy Caleb who isn't as bad and heartless as we originally believe.

I couldn't ask for a better story, and I couldn't ask for a better ending, although I wished for nothing more than for Emma and Dan to repair their relationship and live happily ever after with the new baby, I knew it couldn't be that easy. Both Emma and Dan had a lot of demons to battle. I love the ending, it was sad and beautiful at the same time.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

So I'm done with classes until early February, so what's my plan you ask... why reading of course. A friend and I have a two person book club, we read a book and then Skype each other and geek out about whatever the book for that month is. This month we read Me, and Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, and next month we're reading How to Love by Katie Cotugno.When deciding what book to read I tend to look at my Goodreads "to read" list to see if anything sparks my interest. When I last looked at my list I had 32 books... 32 books... how did that even happen?? Going down the list here are a few:

Thursday, December 19, 2013

The other day a patron came into the library and was talking about... something (I don't know what she was talking about, but she wouldn't stop rambling). At some point I mentioned that we have books here for teens as well as children, and I told her that we get a lot of adult patrons as well because they also read YA books. The woman instantly replies with "I know isn't it sad." I swear to you I heard a roaring in my ears. What is that supposed to mean, what's so bad about YA???? So here are a few articles that speak about the benefits of YA and why those books are so important. Take that :/

Monday, December 16, 2013

For Kitty Doe, it seems
like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery,
looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she
loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the
country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically
transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under
mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be
famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's
only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly
fostered, the same one that got her killed and one Kitty believes in.
Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must
decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in
a twisted game she's only beginning to understand. (goodreads.com)This was a great book, I'm glad I ordered it for my library. I love the character of Kitty, my heart broke for her as she tried to make the best of the worst of a very bad situation. Kitty's face and body have been taken from her, and she has two options, act as Lila Hart and do the bidding of the head of the family, Augusta, or die. Kitty must outwit a family of deceivers, and backstabbers, if she want to survive and keep her boyfriend Benjy safe. The Hart family is full of secrets and so is this book, from beginning to end I was hooked. Kitty is a fantastic character who really comes into her own and learns what she's made of as she comes to realize that she's more than the number tattooed across the back of her neck, and if she's willing to risk it, she might be able to do more for she people, than anyone from the Hart family ever could.

The Hart family is a big problem, I don't even know where to begin, Daxton, worst human being ever, hands down. Augusta was a weird one, she seemed to hate everyone except Greyson, but why? Why did she choose Greyson to love above the rest, maybe it was because he was so passive, I don't know. Despite all of her hatred, she almost seemed to truly believe that she was doing what was best for her country (you know, shooting people on sight, sending them to Elsewhere, and creating replacements for anyone who she still had use for). Part of the reason I liked the book so much was because I did all of this extra thinking about the characters, and there were a few twist that I really didn't see coming (although there were a few that I was able to guess).This is a must read for everyone, the only part that sucks a little... I have to wait until next November to read book 2 :(

Saturday, December 14, 2013

So I want wondering exactly how many movies were coming out that were based off of YA books, and I found out that there are more than I was expecting. Going down the list I found:

The Book Thief
Divergent
The Maze Runner
Mockingjay
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Fallen
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Paddington
The Fault in Our Stars
The Giver
If I Stay
Trash

I'm not a movie person but I guess I'm going to be spending a lot of time there next year, I was already excited about the Book Thief, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, and the Maze Runner, but I had no idea that Trash, If I Stay, Alexander, and The Giver were coming out as well. The excitement is brewing!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

I was always a very big fan of Rachel Caine, I accidentally stumbled across her Weather Warden series, and devoured them, along with her Outcast series, and the Revivalist series is still going. Despite all of this, I didn't want to read the Morganville series, something about a town run by vampires just sounded... silly. I resisted until I had a reading assignment for class and I saw that the first Morganville book (Glass Houses) was an option, I considered it an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I read book 1, then I read book 2 and 3 and 4, and 5, and so on and so forth, I think I'm on book 8 and I still like them. When describing the series I call them fluffy reads, in the best of ways, I don't think they'll win any intellectual awards (although I think a few were on YALSA's reluctant readers list) but they keep teens entertained and reading and that's all that matters.

I like the characters: the school nerd, the goth girl, the stereotypical good guy, and the town bad boy. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but somehow Rachel Caine continues to keep me entertained. At times I want to roll my eyes ask Clair how many times she's going to get kidnapped, or shake Shane and tell him to control his temper, but these kids live in a town run by vampires so what more can we expect. I'm looking forward to when I can read Daylighters and finish this series off.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Greg Gaines is the last
master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any
social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they
spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of
Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel
has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent
awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed.
When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to
make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and
becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.(goodreads.com)

I was definitely a fan of this book. I love the scene that were written in script and the way Greg retold the failed girl encounters of his childhood. When reading this book it truly felt as if Greg was sitting there telling me this story. I really appreciated how Greg compared his story to what we may have expected from reading other stories with similar story lines. He told us that this wasn't going to be a story where he fell in love with the girl who had cancer and she was miraculously cured, he told us that this wasn't going to be a story where the girl died but left her mark of the lives of others. Greg's way of telling his story was almost perfect because the reality of life is that not every story has a beautiful ending, but you just have to live with it.

I will say that at times I felt like Greg was a little on the immature side for a high school senior and it did pull me from the story sometimes. Other than that, I was pretty happy. I give this somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars, lets go with 3.75

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

There's isn't too much to say since this is only one chapter but I'm looking forward to this book. In October I hosted a Skype chat with Marissa Meyer and my book club and it was fantastic. My teens and I are looking forward to the release of Cress and we are going to be per-ordering it very soon. I already have so many questions about Cress. What was she banished, how long has she be in the satellite, when was she last on Earth, why does she receive injections.I'm counting down the days until the rest of the book.